Tyre wear - the other 'big pollutant' of motor vehicles (especially EV's) that nobody ever wants to talks about.

If you put tailpipe emissions of internal combustion powers road vehicles aside, the other major pollutant is tyres. Tyre wear specifically.

The EV evangelists forget to talk about this almost deliberately. Why? Because EV's are normally heavier than equivalent petrol/diesel powered vehicles and that means MORE tyre wear, and MORE OFTEN tyre replacements.

EV's also have higher acceleration and braking characteristics which means even MORE tyre wear associated with hard acceleration and hard braking.

That means more rubber particulate pollution getting into the environment, more waste tyres to dispose of somehow, and all that rubber particulate pollution gets into the soil, the waterways and oceans, and is consumed by animals including us humans.

Is that better for the environment? Remember that YMMV because everyone has different usage requirements for their motor vehicle(s).

This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »

samueltyler2 · 80-89, M

Actually, the tire manufacturers make special tires for EVs and they don't really wear out any faster.

zonavar68 · 56-60, M

@samueltyler2 It's the weight that does it, plus the high acceleration and braking forces. Not the composition of the rubber being any 'different'. More weight and harder powering/stopping means more tyre wear.

samueltyler2 · 80-89, M

@zonavar68 but it doesn't is what i am saying. None of the people i know who drive EVs have experienced that. I have experienced early degradation of tires on ICE cars else pending upon the manufacturer. For example high performance Perillis rarely go more than 25k

Elessar · 31-35, M

@zonavar68 EVs are lighter than ICE, they lack a lot of heavy parts (transmission, engine bulk, thermal shields, exhaust on top of my mind). If the problem is they're too light you can compensate by adding weight (bigger battery).

zonavar68 · 56-60, M

@Elessar That's not the case. The battery module in a EV of the same car model that also comes in a non-EV version is always heavier because you require a big battery due to the energy density of the cells being a lot less than the energy density of liquid hydrocarbon fuels. EV's still have the 'transmission' in the form of big heavy electric motor packs (some vehicles have one for each wheel),

2.15 tonnes is the curb weight of a dual motor Volvo (made in China by Geely) XC-40. The petrol hybrid (t5) version of the same vehicle weights 1.71 tonnes. So the full electric version is 400 kg (nearly 1/2 a tonne!) heavier. The XC-40 is NOT a genuine Volvo.

My 1992 diesel 80 series landcruiser (still on original motor at 710 k km's) weighs 2.5 tonnes, and my 1992 Saab 900 2.1 sedan (still on original motor at almost 200 k km's) weighs 1.3 tonnes. Show me any EV 30+ years after it was made still running on it's original battery module. 8-) EV's are throwaway devices like mobile phones. They're not made to be repairable.

Elessar · 31-35, M

@zonavar68 But the point being discussed is that it pollutes more: it doesn't. The weight difference isn't that big to matter. And anyway, a Fiat 500 Elettrica still weighs less than the average ICE car you see around, if weight was really an issue then we should ban SUVs and trucks altogether, instead of trying to demonize EV over bullshìt.

There's plenty of "non-genuine" ICEs as well, the problem is hardly EV's. Buy a Mercedes A-class and you're buying a Renault lol

Show me any EV 30+ years after it was made still running on it's original battery module

And show me any ICE 30+ years car that is still running with its original clutch, fuel pump, etc. That's a pretty dumb argument because there's more consumable parts on an ICE than on an EV (basically only the battery)

Big Oil did a number with you, didn't it?

zonavar68 · 56-60, M

@Elessar Being heavier means EV's cause more tyre wear. Having higher acceleration and deceleration abilities cause more tyre wear. The biggest pollutant caused by ALL motor vehicles after tailpipe emissions are ignored is tyre wear. The motor packs on an EV are a 'consumable'. All the electronics is a consumable. Saying EV's are 'maintenance free' isn't correct. And the battery modules need very careful care and feeding to prevent (a) thermal runaway incidents and (b) premature degradation. High capacity fast charging for an EV is actually bad for the battery module.

Elessar · 31-35, M

@zonavar68 You can buy a lighter EV than your current heavy ICE car, if weight concerns you that much. It's really that simple.

Everything is consumable dude, even f*cking horses were/are.